The Multiverse
by DarenDoe
Summary: A storm like no other descends upon the last of humanity. Death, destruction, and utter madness run wild as the borders to other worlds fall away, letting friends and foes alike wander into hell on earth. Worlds clash as battles unfold. The world's fate rests in the hands of humanity's greatest.
1. The Storm

This is the land of Death, my child.

Fear for them, the unholy ones. They have been dammed to Hell on earth.

Pity those who cower behind the walls, my dear, for misery and pain comes their way.

Fate is inescapable, my darling, and destiny wishes for the torture of their souls.

Death is looming, my love, and soon we shall all be devoured.

The end is here.

It was, for once, quiet. Almost serene. The sun slowly sank behind the looming Wall Rose, causing the warmth of the day to slowly slip away. On top of one of the partly demolished houses in the Trost District, Connie Springer leans forward, resting his chin on his hand as his legs lazily dangle off the side of the roof. He sighs, watching as dark and heavy storm clouds roll in from the West, bringing with them a slight chill. "I can't remember the last time it rained.." he trails off, watching with mild interest as the stormfront seemed to be chasing the setting sun.

"Connie?" inquires an all too familiar voice from behind him. He doesn't turn for he is too engrossed in the picturesque scene before him.

"Connie?" they call again, the soft noise of heeled boots clicking against the rooftop disturbing the once impenetrable silence. "It's time to go. Come on."

A hand rests atop of the young man's shoulder, brining him out of his daze. He looks up, meeting the quizzical gaze of the arguably mad scientist. A knowing smirk contorts the scientist's face as she leans downward, making the light reflect menacingly off of her glasses.

"What 'cha thinkin' about, Springer? Hm? Something deep and profound?" She cocks her head to the side, her smirk growing as the adolescent rolls his eyes.

"I was thinking that it's going to rain," he corrects her, returning his gaze to the troubling storm clouds.

"Well, aren't you perceptive?" she jabs at him, poking his shoulder several times with her finger. "That's why we have to go, Springer. You don't want to be sitting out in the rain; someone may think that you're trying to be poetic."

"Who? Me? Ha!" he says, pushing away the scientist as he stands. "The only one here who should be poetic is you, Hange. You know, when you're talking to Capain Levi- Ow! What the hell was that for?!" he wailed, cradling his now throbbing arm as he stares at the mad scientist who glares at him.

"Don't tell lies, brat. As they say, snitches get stitches." She suddenly begins howling with laughter, holding her sides as if she was the funniest fucking person in the whole fucking world. "Oh, come on! Lighten up, Springer. Hm? Fine, keep that dumb, pained look on your face for all I care, we need to get back to headquarters."

Without further discussion, the two sprung off of the building, leaping into the oncoming night as the three dimensional maneuvering gear shot out tendrils of rope, helping propelling the two along. Soon the two arrived at the newly acquired headquarters for the Special Survey Corps. The scientist barged through the door, singing (out of key, of course) that she was home. Levi, who was on his hands and knees, scrubbing the hard floored room scoffed loudly, glaring at the two.

"Take off your shoes of else I will boil them and forced them down your throats," he threatened in a low voice, removing the cloth from around his mouth. Hange just wagged her finger at him and skipped off to her room while Connie was more than willing to comply. He scurried off towards his room, too, but not before hearing Levi mutter beneath his breath. "Idiots.. Messing up my floor… Dirty boots... Murder…."

Dinner came just as the first few droplets of rain began pattering against the headquarter's rooftop. Many happily discussed the coming rain while others, like Sasha, hungrily dug into the dreadfully plain food. Hange was vividly discussing something with a rather impassive looking Levi at the head of the table while Eren and Armin discussed the coming storm. Excitement was evident in the room as the intensity of the rain picked up. The soldiers, new and old alike, chortled and spoke with an almost renewed form of excitement while Hange paused in her monologue, a frown tugging at her lips.

Connie furrowed his brows, noticing the frown out of the corner of his eyes. He glanced over toward the two, giving Sasha, who sat in between him and Mikasa, a chance to steal his bread for herself. He took no mind, not caring for her gluttony. He was, though, interested in the intensity of Hange's speech. It was hushed and urgent, only meant for Levi's ears.

"Storm… Bad feeling.. Never this bad… Fear… Something is coming…"

"Something is coming?" Connie asked aloud, causing the wandering eyes of Mikasa to rest on him.

The normally quiet young woman leaned over Sasha. Connie couldn't help but notice as her hand rested against the brunette's thigh, causing the huntress to blush darkly as she hesitated in devouring the bread. "What did you say?"

Her voice, so calm and leveled, caused several others to look over as Connie leaned away from the two. "W-what?" he asked dumbly, taken aback from her talking to him. She rarely ever spoke. And when she did, it was usually to Eren. And, well, Sasha in the last few days. Which, if he admitted, made him think that maybe-

"I said: 'What did you say'."

"Oh, nothing. I just heard.. nothing. I heard nothing."

"Connie," she said, her voice still the calm, impassiveness that sent chills rolling down his spine. "You said something was coming. What do you mean?"

"I- uh, nothing! I was just-"

"Just eavesdropping," Levi concluded, folding his hands together atop of the table, leaning towards the others. His very voice commanded the attention of all in the room. "He was listening in to a conversation between Hange and myself. It was, if you must know, a conversation for our ears and our ears along. Didn't anyone ever tell you that it was rude to-"

"Levi, it's fine," Hange interjected, her gaze lingering on the window opposite of where she sat at the end of the long table.

"Why you-" he began to snarl before Hange gave him a warning glare. One that made everyone in the room shrink away.

"What I was saying to Levi is that the storm doesn't seem like a normal storm. It's making me uneasy. We haven't had a storm for a great many years. Hell, all I can remember from the last one is that several districts flooded while others suffered damage from lightening and fire caused from that.

"What I'm trying to say is that storms aren't good. Though rain seems to be an interesting prospect, the consequences of the storm that surely comes along with it isn't good. And this seems to be… Worse, almost. It's been so long since the last one that-"

"That this one will sure be a hell of a storm," Levi finished as light flashed in through the windows and thunder rumbled across the sky.


	2. Crystallized Despair

My nightmares bring me hope.

They let me see you one more time.

Night had overtaken the day completely, wrapping the walls that enclosed the last of humanity in shadows and secrets. Wind howled, tearing through the deserted streets while rain poured out of the darkened heavens, making rivers where there were once alleys and swamps where there was once dirt and grass. Buildings shook as thunder rumbled across the clouded night sky. The stars and moon had been consumed by the clouds that continued to roll through, seemingly clotting together over the plateau that held humanity's last fortress.

Connie rested on his cot, staring up at the ceiling that was slowly letting in the rain. Buckets had been placed beneath leaks in the roofing for the time being- Levi would surely attend to the poor state of the headquarters in the morning. The frigorific wind seeped in through holes in the foundation of the headquarters, letting in the dreadful wind that nipped at any exposed skin.

The blankets were warm enough, though. One's feet may freeze a bit during the night, but one would never truly be cold beneath the quilts made out of cloth and stuffed with downing. Where was the downing from? The birds around here were far too small to-

BADOOOM.

Lightening struck once again, lighting up the room the young man shared with several others. No one yelped in fear, nor did anyone scream in surprise. These were members of the Special Survey Corps. They had seen Hell and, regrettably at times, lived to tell the tales. Nothing scared them anymoe.

Or so they thought.

One did sit up, though. It was Eren. He gazed towards the window. Something told Connie that it wasn't the storm that made him bear such a grim expression. Through the darkness, Connie could see that Eren's hands wrung the hemming of his quilt. It was almost a nervous antic. Nervous? Eren? Perhaps Connie's intuition was off. But… It never was. He could usually make out a person's personality just by a few simple mannerisms; he could figure out how dire or grim a situation was just by a gut feeling. It was a gift that saved his life- and others- time and time again.

So why was such a driven and headstrong man nervous?

"Titan boy…" came the gruff voice of a sleepy young man in the cot near Eren's. The adolescent propped his head up, resting his chin on his hand as he yawned, blinking in the direction of the nervous man. "What are you doing?"

"Hm? What?" Eren asked, finally tearing his gaze away from the window. His expression, Connie thought as he squinted at the two in the dark, soured upon realizing how he was addressed. "I was watching the rain, _horse face_."

"Good one. No, what were you _really_ doing? You don't seem like a "rain watching" sort of a guy."

Eren then glanced towards the window just as lightening struck once again, illuminating his profile with its flash of light. "I was just wondering if she was… Nothing, forget it."

Jean grew quiet as Connie couldn't help but wonder who this "she" was. Eren sighed, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands while the rain continued to come down in swift sheets.

"Titan boy.. _She_ isn't who I think it is, right?"

Connie never got to hear Eren's answer for the door to their joined room was flung open and a towering figure stood in the frame, the lenses of their glasses shinning in the light of yet another strike of lightening. The three boys yelped as the others hurriedly sat up to see what the commotion was all about.

"Heh… heh…" The creature pushed up their glasses farther up the bridge of their nose as the others swore beneath their breaths. It was Hange, which, to most, was almost as terrifying as a titan. "Guess who finally decided to wake up..?"

Her question, as vague as it was, made Eren visibly stiffen while the others shrugged their shoulders and grumbled about being awakened. "No," he muttered under his breath as Hange stomped against the floor, demanding the attention of the young recruits.

"The femal titan has awakened, kids."

…

The Special Survey Corps gathered around the grotesque scene before them, a few of them huddled beneath the overhang of the headquarters while the others stood in the pouring rain. Before them was a sprawled out and twisted body that had clotted pieces of crystallized amber stuck to various limbs while the same amber surrounded the body in a gelatin-like mass. With a creaking, some of the crystallized amber broke off, falling into the deep puddle of water and goo, making a splash.

Levi stood the closest to the form, a long blade in each hand. His expression was aloof, almost disinterested in the being that drowned in goo and rain beneath him. More and more of the amber crumbled away, revealing the slender frame of a woman who had caused so much distress… so much despair… so much death.

Suddenly, with a gasp, the woman sat up, clutching at her throat, tearing away a hunk of the crystal. It shattered against the ground, quickly forming another pile of gelatin-like goo. She panted, gasping for air like a fish out of water as thunder crashed against the earth, sending tremors through the ground the ground. Connie, like several others, took a hesitant step back as the rain picked up its already allegro tempo. He lifted his hand to his forehead, peering through the blinding rain.

There she was, staggering to her feet as she tore away any remains of the crystal. She teetered side to side, her hair slicked against her angular face. Levi took a step forward, crouching into a fighting stance. Upon seeing him, the blond woman snarled, groggily snarling some slurred words at the short man. The others looked on in awe at the revived form of the blond woman who raised her fists, crouching into her well known fighting stance.

Levi took the first move. He lunged forward, swinging a blade in a wide arc. The blond, though seemingly not yet completely awakened, simply bent backwards, the blade missing her throat by mere centimeters. She kicked out, spinning on her heal so that her heel flew past the soldier's head. Levi sneered at her audacity at trying to attack him. He had simply dodged and repeated his last attack, this time using both blades. He slashed out in an "X" form. The young woman dropped to the cobbled streets that now had flooded a few centimeters. She went to roll onto her stomach to push herself up, but Levi was already there, towering over her. His heel dug into the small of her back, causing her to cry out. She went to bite her thumb, but, again, he was already ahead of her. Suddenly his knees dug into her arms as he knelt atop of her. He dropped a blade, using his newly freed hand to hold the blond's head in place as he raised his blade, prepared to deliver the final blow.

"NO!" shrieked a voice, startling the awed onlookers. Connie watched in complete shock as Eren flung himself at Levi, tackling him off of the blond. The two began wrestling; Levi used the hilt of his blade to bash in Eren's skull as Eren kneed the man in the gut. Flashes of lightening illuminated the scene as the two began punching, kicking, hitting, and completely thrashing at one another.

"STOP IT!"

Everyone, including the weakened blond and the two fighting soldiers, snapped their heads toward the one who had screamed. The mad scientist strode over to the three, pulling the men apart of one another. She stood between the blond and the two, her arms spread wide.

"This is no time to be outside. If there is an argument to had- and like there hell there is one- it will be held inside. The storm is only worsening? Got that? I said: GOT THAT!" she roared, demanding an answer.

One scoffed as the other quickly nodded. She ushered the two inside along with the rest of the Special Survey Corps. Connie was amongst them and felt as they felt; completely and utterly confused.

He watched from the window at the end of the long table as Hange returned to the weakened woman, helping her stand. The blond hung her head in defeat as Hange seemed to menacingly whisper something into her ear.

The two finally made it inside. Upon entering, Hange pointedly looked amongst them, singling towards Connie with her free hand. "You- go get some towels. Now!"

Connie scuttled away, doing as such. Upon returning, all were seated at the long table save for Hange who stood beside the blond who had taken the head of the table and Levi who leant against the wall behind the two.

Connie placed the towels before the woman who still had amber globs stuck in her matted blond hair. She gazed up, defeat in her eyes, though a small smirk had snaked its way onto her sharp face.

"Hello, friends. Did you miss your big sister, Annie?"


	3. The Return of the Dammed

Perhaps death is just God's way of telling you that you finally have something worth living for.

Perhaps I am just an idiot.

The entire congregation of soldiers had their eyes trained on the newly revived Annie Leonhardt; some glared with pure hatred, others with repulsion, most with honest confusion. Connie wondered the same questions many asked themselves. Why had she committed those acts of treason? Why had she betrayed all of their trust? But more importantly- why had killed and harmed those who were her friends?

Silence had settled upon them, adding to the growing tension that filled the room. Many shifted nervously in their chairs while others snarled at the young woman. Her answer had been left hanging, no-one daring to answer it. Too many lives had been upended during the Survey Corps' struggle to trap the female titan and now… Now it proved to be all a waste. Their lives had meant nothing. She had won. Again. Though her eyes showed her inner defeat, she still posed a threat to their very existence.

Through the light of the candles that had been placed sporadically around the room and on top of the long table, Connie could make out the relief that was evident upon Eren's face. Relief? At seeing _her_? Why would he feel relief knowing that the woman who was the sole reason that so many perished was well and- oh. How could he have been so dense? Annie was she. She was the one that Eren had alluded to back in their shared room. How had Jean known? He had asked Eren as if he knew-

"No-one missed me? Well, that's a shame." It was Annie who had interrupted Connie's thoughts. His gaze traveled over to the woman who smirked almost impishly at the hate that seemed to roll off of nearly every individual in the room. "I thought that I would have been welcomed a bit more warml-"

"You're a monster!"

Everyone turned their gaze upon the young, fair-haired man who seemed just as surprised as everyone else that he had shrieked such a thing. It was Armin, the one who has seemed the most level-headed when it came to capturing the once rampant female titan. He never expressed hate or anything akin to it when talking about her. It was either matter-of-fact or tainted with disappointment and betrayal. He had never shown signs of thinking that Annie was bad person nor did he ever outright say that he loathed her. And now here he was, brandishing his once ally and friend a monster.

The tension of the room thickened at his words. Many gazes lingered on the young man who now hung his head in shame while others' drifted back towards the monster in questioning. Connie noticed, however, the irregularity among the sea of confusion, hate, and contempt. It was Eren, of course. His gaze never left Annie's. She, too, hadn't let her gaze drift from his. How hadn't he noticed this? It was if she had been addressing him alone. Perhaps there was more to this than meet the eye.

"The brat is right," sighed Levi as he softly kicked off the wall. He stalked over to chair Annie sat in like a tiger who had already cornered its prey; slow, calculated, and almost mockingly. He paused alongside the arm of her chair, his eyes trained on the window opposite of the long table. "You are, by every definition, a monster."

His words, as cold and impassive as always, made Annie's smirk falter for a second. The defeat that had settled in her eyes now grew in intensity as Levi continued his short, by all-together menacing, monologue. "You have betrayed your friends, your allies, and your home. You have, literally and figuratively, squashed those underfoot who wished nothing more than to protect humankind and bring about an end to this overlong state of chaos. A monster is not defined by their physicality, but rather their very essence; to give up one's morals and go against all they have wished and fought for is what makes a monster a monster. A monster is created by itself. I must congratulate you, for you have succeeded in creating quite a monster to be reckoned with."

With each insult, the woman seemed to crumble beneath the truth of it all. Her shoulders sagged as her chin dipped with shame. But, as silence once again claimed the room, her eyes began to burn in an all too familiar intensity. Connie grasped the ledge of the table as he couldn't help but feel as if the cornered animal wasn't quite ready to be killed.

A low, maddening chuckle escaped the barely parted lips of the monster at question. She suddenly threw her head back, her fists pounding on the table in glee. "You think that I honestly ever cared for this Hell Hole? Because that's what it is; it's Hell. Why would I fight for Hell?" she inquired, holding her arms out as if she expected an answer to her clearly rhetorical question. "I wouldn't. No sane person would. You are all living a horribly misguided dream! You think that you can survive, but the end is already here! You shall all perish-"

Her words were suddenly cut off by several bolts of lightning. They crashed into the cobbled streets outside of the headquarters, blinding all those in the room with light that suddenly flooded in through the window. Screams of shock were overpowered by the noise of electricity crackling as more and more bolts of lightning crashed against the ground. Tremors rumbled through the ground, making the cabinets beside the table that held the dinnerware and nonperishable food tumble over. Many tried to stand, covering their ears as the sensory overload threatened to tear them apart. Several fell as the floor shook beneath them, making long, crooked cracks run through the once smooth and polished floor.

A hand grasped onto Connie's shoulder, forcing him to concentrate on a blurry figure before him instead of the madness that had ensued upon the headquarters. The figure before him signaled for him and the huntress beside him to go over to the arch of the doorway where several others had clotted together. Connie's ears rung as the scene before him trembled and blurred again and again. Flashes of light continued to blind him as the huntress and himself rather crawled along the ground littered with overturned chairs and broken dinnerware than walked to the arch. More and more began to cluster beneath the sturdy stone archway while others crawled towards the one on the other end of the room.

The onslaught off tremors, blinding lightning, and deafening thunder kept coming and coming, making the buzz cut young man truly believe that he was in Hell. He cowered against the huddled mass of bodies, taking no notice that beside him was Annie and Eren, in one another's arms. Had he seen that, it would have confirmed that he was, indeed, in some distorted reality.

Little did he know that, in some form, Hell's gateway was, indeed, opening.

…

Seconds, minutes, hours, years; it seemed like one in the same to them all. Time had inched by, leaving the battered and horrified soldiers with some form of peace. The storm had since quelled into a quiet lull. It was a fit replacement to the chaos of earlier.

Silence had fallen upon the nearly demolished headquarters, for the ears of all still rung and their minds had yet to process what exactly had just happened. Many had begun to nurse their wounds- ranging from mild to extreme in the case of Armin whose hand had been fractured when someone trampled over it in a hurry to get to safety.

Damage had been attained to the headquarters, too. Windows were left shattered with rain pouring in, furniture was displaced and overturned while the more delicate and fragile furniture had legs broken and arms torn off, silverware had been completely obliterated, and, in one corner of the headquarters, the outside walls had been scorched in black tendrils that branched out from several craters in the red bricks.

 _Levi would have his hands full, that was for sure._ Connie snorted at his joke, though the sound made his ears ring painfully. He rubbed at his ears, trying to dull the tremendous pain. Every now and again, another would do a similar thing. The pain caused by the deafening lightning left many cursing- that being the only noise to unsettle the welcomed silence.

After all damage was assessed and all injuries were tended to, Levi gave the orders, much to Connie's dismay, that all were to aid in the repairing and cleaning of the headquarters. Annie, too, was forced to do so. Hange escorted her, keeping a watchful eye on the fighter as they went around, picking up the shattered pieces of this and that.

In no time the headquarters was in a near presentable state. Many had paired up in their various tasks, making the work easier. Connie had fallen in with Armin, Eren, Jean, Mikasa, and Sasha. They all slowly began conversing, wearing away the silence that had befallen upon them. Soon they began to joke and banter with one another, the pain having mostly left. The quiet one of the group, surprisingly, was not Mikasa- it was Eren. He kept sending fleeting glances toward Hange and Annie. He would furrow his brows and pull his lips back in a snarl whenever Hange laid a finger on Annie, whether it was menacing or accidental.

Connie, in between jabbing at Jean and pulling dumb little pranks on Sasha, vaguely wondered what had happened between the two titan shifters. Eren had always been intrigued by Annie's signature fighting style, but he never expressed a sort of… protective nature over the blond woman. It was strange, but also understandable in a way. The two shared something that none of the rest of the soldiers could comprehend; the two were able to bend their bodies and their wills so that they could be the thing that kept humanity at bay. They could become the thing that had plagued humankind for over a century. It was understandable that the two would form a bond over that. That's how friends are made, isn't it? A shared similarity tha-

"What'cha thinkin' 'bout, Baldy?" teased the male with the rather long face. He poked Connie between the eyebrows, the man's brows raised as he pursed his lips. "Hello? Anyone in there? Hellooooo?"

Connie slapped away the hand, grumbling about how he cuts his hair like that and that its proper name is a "buzz cut". Jean paid no mind, continuing to poke fun at the rather short man.

"At least I don't look like a horse's ass," snapped the shorter male as he roughly grabbed the broom out of the taller male's hands. That shut him up. He simply scowled and stalked off towards Armin and Eren.

Connie sighed, idly tossing the broom from hand to hand as he surveyed the thin slivers of silverware that were too small and sharp to be picked up by hand. A giggling, flirtatious in nature, drew his attention. It was none other than Sasha. Connie scrunched his brows together in confusion as Mikasa grinned, a small blush colouring her cheeks.

A blush? A blush! What the hell? She rarely ever smiled, let alone blushed! Sasha, in turn, leaned in close to the raven-haired woman, her fingers grazing the other's cheek as she snatched up a fallen eyelash. The two paused, still very close to one another. Mikasa simply gazed into the other's eyes as her blush darkened while the other bit her bottom lip in contemplation. Sasha seemed to be internally debating something. Her thinking, though, was cut short by Mikasa's soft voice.

"Not here," she whispered, tearing her gaze away from the huntress. Her gaze flickered towards Connie, catching his watching eyes. "People are watching."

Upon discovering that someone had seen their rather close encounter, Sasha began nervously laughing as she bounded over to Connie. She jumped to a halt in front of him, her hands folded behind her as she cocked her head to the side. Connie, ashamed at being caught eavesdropping again, bowed his head, his eyes glued to the shards of silverware upon the cracked floor.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sasha perkily said, bouncing on the balls of her heels. "Did you need anything? Help with sweeping? You were just looking over at me, so I didn't know if you needed anything." Connie glanced up at her false smile, noting how nervous she seemed at the moment. Even though she bore all the signs of nervousness and had a rather peculiar expression on her face, Connie couldn't help but find her completely and utterly gorgeous. His own cheeks flared a bit pink and he scoffed at his own idiocy, directing his gaze out of a broken window that continued to let wind and rain in (Levi and Hange were currently working on some sort of barrier to barricade the windows with). No matter how much he wished to declare his feelings of affection to the young woman before him, something always caught his tongue before he could do so.

"Connie?" The huntress pursed her lips- Connie watched her out of the corner of his eyes (he could hardly ever tear his gaze away from her)- leaned closer to him, causing his heart to soar. "Are you alright? You didn't answer me. You've been acting weird since yesterday when you-"

"There's a person out there," Connie suddenly said, pointing a finger towards the window. He had, for a second, managed to look away from the young woman. Through the window he could see a slim form in a rather deep puddle facedown.

Intuition tugged at his gut, telling him to rush out to the person. And he did just that.

He threw his broom away from him, causing several curious pairs of eyes to snap over to him. Sasha reached out, asking what he was doing, but he was already running towards the door that led out to the front of the headquarters.

"There's a person out there!" he called over to the bewildered huntress before stepping out into the rain. He held a hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the rain, looking around for the person. He spotted her just as a few members of the Special Survey Corps gathered in the doorway, peering through the sheets of rain at the rather idiotic individual. A few joked around, saying that the loon had found something- maybe a clue. Perhaps some dignity.

Nonetheless, Connie ran over to the slender frame. He fell to his knees, the standing water instantly soaking through his clothes. His hands dived under the small being, rolling them onto their back and dragging their torso onto his thighs so that they were no longer submerged in the water that flooded the cobbled streets.

Connie blinked several times, not able to recognize the woman beneath him. He shook his head, trying to get his priorities in line. "Help! Someone's unconscious! They- they may be dead!" he screamed over his shoulder, worried that the pouring rain may have drowned out his cry for help. He then pressed two fingers against the unknown woman's pulse point.

He cried out in relief as he picked up on her pulse. Though unconscious, she was still alive.

Connie gathered the slim woman in his arms as he stood. Lightning illuminated the scene to the soldiers that looked on; swift sheets of rain that fell from the darkened heavens continued to batter against the buildings and flooded streets, buildings and the cobbled streets were now home to craters of various sizes where lightning had the misfortune to strike, and the young man who struggled against the arctic wind with a woman in his arms.

Several soldiers rushed out upon seeing that the young man hadn't been false in his claims, helping carry the woman and clear a pathway through the soldiers into the meeting room. Connie rather dumped than laid the woman on the long table while more and more gathered around the scene. He leant over the sprawled out woman, tipping her chin back and listening for any signs of breathing. A light breath tickled his ear, causing him to sigh in utter relief. Connie pulled away, turning to face those around him.

"She's breathing. She's fine. Or she will be," Connie said to the mass of soldiers as Hange and Levi fought their way through the young recruits and Special Survey Corps veterans. The soldiers whispered to one another, sending fleeting glances toward the unconscious woman.

"Who is that?"

"I've never seen her before."

"From another district?"

"Weird clothes."

The crowd kept murmuring amongst themselves, gossiping about the identity of the woman. Hange reached the long table, pushing aside the young man with the buzz cut. She quickly surveyed the unconscious woman, a frown tugging down the corners of her mouth.

"Yes," she began, her voice demanding the attention of all those in the room. "Her clothes are quite outlandish. And this," she pointed at black streaks that ran down the woman's face as well at the black smudges that accented both of the closed eyes. It seemed her lashes were covered with black goo. Her lips, too, had red smeared at the corners. Hange lightly ran her fingers over one of the black streaks, observing the pad of her finger. It was black. "Some sort of face paint… But these clothes are not from around here," she said matter-of-factly. "The material is too fine. It almost seems… like it was manufactured." That word confused many in that context. All of their clothes were handmade and hand sewn. Sure they had bought them in bulk from the military, but they had special seamstresses whose skills were impeccable and were able to create almost identical clothing.

"This is…" Hange's last word was muffled as she slowly ran her hand over the body, inspecting the clothes the woman wore. The woman wore a long, pristinely white lab coat that, had she been standing, would have hung around her ankles. Beneath that she wore a white button-up that, because it was sopping wet, was practically transparent in places where the fabric clung to her skin and her bra. A red tie was loosely knotted around her neck. A belt with a brass buckle held up the short… pants? They were so short that they ended mid-thigh. A skin tight black material covered the rest of her long legs. She wore ink black boots that were untied with their tongue and sides flipped inside out.

All in all, outlandish was not enough of a description to accurately describe how the woman looked. "She is not from around here," concluded Hange as she straightened, turning to look at the rest of the corps. "And as of now, we have nothing to go off of that can tell us where she may be from. For now, all we can do is wait and hope that she wakes u-"

Starling gasps made the Special Survey Corps look behind Hange in shock as the woman in question quickly sat up, clutching her throat.

"The _Faculatasada_ is coming," she cried out before wheezing several times. Her eyes suddenly rolled back into her head as she collapsed, falling against the wooden table once again.


	4. Desperation

AN: Heya, sorry about not updating sooner. Also, this chapter mostly holds description and dialogue between Connie and Hange. I figured that I should get all the boring shiiiite out of the way before posting a chapter with a bunch of rad stuff in it. Anyhow, please read and review! Any review is a good review! Also, I do not own Attack on Titan. Nor do I own Steins; Gate. Sad, but true.

In the silence, I can clearly hear my past.

Through the darkness, I can see the gloom of my eternal damnation.

Silence, once again, had descended upon the headquarters. Mum was the word as the Special Survey Corps members quietly milled about, their gazes down casted upon internal reflection. The only noise that dared to break the impregnable sheet of silence was the harsh pattering of the rain upon the roof of the three-story headquarters; that, and the occasional groan of impatience that escaped from the mad scientist's lips. Hange had placed the unknown woman within her "experiment" room that many- and that means all, including Levi- steered clear from. She would often be found leaning against the dark wooden door, her arms folded across her chest as her foot tapped in utter annoyance. The fact that it had nearly been a day since the woman was found in the street and collapsed after her brief speech made the scientist irritable for she had yet to awaken.

Connie, tasked with a routine inspection on the now boarded up windows, tried his damn best to skirt around the scientist who bore a frown upon her features. That was always a sign of trouble. He kept his eyes trained on the toes of his boots as he swiftly strode forward, eager to be free of the presence of the scientist and the "experiment" room in which she spent many long hours. He sighed in relief, thinking for a moment that he was in the clear when a hand clamped down upon his shoulders, hindering his hasty passage of the less than cheery duo.

It was, to his utter dismay, the scientist. She twirled him around so that he faced her and her ever growing smile. Her expression was a deadly mix of desperation and newfound excitement. It was like a cat who had found a mouse. He gulped, trying to back away from the terrifying woman. She merely strengthened his hold on him and slapped her other hand onto his free shoulder.

"Connie boy," she cooed, drawing the squirming young man closer so that her breath fell upon his face in ragged gasps. Fear made his eyes widen as he surely thought that Hange would kill him just for the hell of it. "Shh, shh. Calm down," she dragged out the vowels in her last two words, her face pressing closer and closer to his. To the casual onlooker, the two may be confused for two passionate lovers, but to all those who knew Hange- well, shit was about to go down.

A giggle, low and impish, suddenly erupted from the scientist as she towered over her prey. Connie wished he could fall in on himself and disappear from this hell on earth. As she loomed over him, cackling under her breath as her eyes told the young man of all the things she wished to probe him with and torture him with, a voice cut through the bubble that seemed to have formed around the altercation.

"What is going on here?"

Hange's attention instantly snapped over to the small, yet imposing, form of their leader. Connie, on the other hand, seem glued to the spot, petrified at what had almost happened. Slowly, with some apprehension, the scientist let her almost-experiment go in favour of the commander. A brow was raised above his sunken eyes that spoke of little sleep while his hands were intertwined behind his back. His glare was not curious, nor was it kind; it was the aloof, disinterested, cold gaze that seemed to penetrate through any man's ego and see the pitiful man that cowered behind falsities.

At receiving no reply from either of the two, Levi took a step forward, repeating his question in a tone of absolute irritation. "I said: what is going on here?"

Hange simply grinned once again, her gaze shifting over to the cowering young man beside her. "Oh, nothing. We were just having a little chat, weren't we, Connie boy?"

Her tone told Connie that any other answer besides "yes" would result in his "disappearance". He swallowed his fear, nodding in the affirmative.

Levi, however, raised a brow as if not buying for one second that Hange was doing anything less than threatening to torture the young man. "Hm. Hange," he said, dismissing the current situation entirely. "Has she awakened yet?"

The maniacal grin slipped into a heavyset frown as the scientist's shoulders slumped forward in both annoyance and defeat. "No, she hasn't. She hasn't even moved! Her breathing never changes, nor do her eyelids flutter. Ah- Oh!" The mad scientist clasped her hands together in joy as an idea dawned upon her while the two male onlookers couldn't help but feel a wave of dread wash upon them. Any idea Hange had when she was desperate for an outcome in an experiment resulted in… Well… Typically pain or trauma. And since neither wished to partake or see others befall upon her desperation, they uneasily began to dissuade the scientist from whatever the plan she had devised.

"H-Hange," said Connie as his face almost all but lost the look of fear. "Whatever you're about to do-"

"Don't do it," concluded Levi.

Connie glanced over at the leader, the sternness in his voice making the young soldier gulp.

Hange's grin merely grew in response. "We can't get answers from someone who's sleeping, now can we?"

Levi was about to protest when Hange simply brushed past him and slipped into her "experiment" room. Levi, scowling and irked, followed after the eccentric woman. He paused in the doorway, glancing over at Connie and gesturing with his chin toward the room before him. Connie was to come, too. Great.

The "experiment" room was ever so fitting to its title. Beakers were cluttered upon tables while journals documenting various experiments laid haphazardly upon stacks of books. Small craters were here and there in the floorboards, most likely from some acidic liquid spilling. A smell lingered in the air; the smell was sulfuric and made Connie's nose scrunch in disgust. An operation table resided beside the far wall of the room. On it was a woman enveloped in shadows. Light suddenly sprouted up along the walls. Hange placed the candlestick that had brought life anew to the torches beside the woman's head. The scientist loomed over the comatose-like woman, her expression one of newfound interest rather than desperation. Which one was worse? Desperation or excitement? Connie couldn't tell.

Levi strode over to the table and surveyed the mysterious woman, his expression grim. Grim? No, that wasn't good. He circled around the table, stopping beside the mad scientist. She straightened, giving Levi a side-glance. The two were so close that their arms were practically touching. For others, that may not have been quite the feat. But this was Levi the Immaculate, Levi the Pristine- as the troops sometimes called him behind his back. Anyone, anyone at all, was bound to be caring pathogens, and Levi just couldn't have that. The filth, the grim. Disgusting. So when Connie noticed the slight physical interaction, he was stunned.

Hange returned her gaze upon the woman lying before them. "We must wake her up. We don't have the time to let her recuperate her strength and wake up on her own. If she were left alone, she could awaken in a few days time. For all we know, tonight could hold another surprise."

Levi nodded in agreement.

"But how?" asked Connie quite dumbly.

Levi looked annoyed at the very question while Hange's maniacal grin grew, reaching from ear to ear. "Just watch, Connie boy."


End file.
